Around Town

Jay Cutler and Donovan McNabb, two of the premier quarterbacks in the NFC, will be showcased Nov. 22 when the Bears play host to the Eagles at Soldier Field.

The McNabb family can hardly wait.

"Both sides are really going to have a great time," said Sam McNabb, Donovan's father. "It's going to be an opportunity to see two good teams go at it and entertain the people probably more than they anticipated."

Sam McNabb, who lives in the south suburbs with his wife, Wilma (also known as Mama McNabb), will host his fifth annual football mini-camp July 17 and 18 at Mt. Carmel for high school juniors and seniors. Donovan McNabb played at Mt. Carmel before starring at Syracuse. Call 708-841-8885 or e-mail seado@sbcglobal.net for more.

Word on the street: Retired Tribune NFL reporter Don Pierson, a member of the writers' wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, will be honored at the Ring Lardner Awards Dinner July 16 at the Union League, 65 W. Jackson. Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley will receive the broadcast award and Harry Caray will be honored posthumously. The event benefits the Boys and Girls Clubs and tickets ($150 each) are available by calling 312-583-9924. ... The 2009 U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame class includes Michael Johnson (track), Picabo Street (alpine skiing), Teresa Edwards (basketball), Willye White (track), Mary T. Meagher (swimming), Sarah Will (paralympic alpine skiing), the 1992 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team (including "Dream Team" members Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen), longtime men's gymnastics coach Abie Grossfeld, skiing veteran Andrea Mead-Lawrence and Peter Ueberroth as a special contributor. The ceremony will take place Aug. 12 at McCormick Place. ... White Sox general manager Ken Williams will conduct a private question-answer forum 10:30 a.m. Friday at U.S. Cellular Field for participants in the second annual Double Duty Classic. The event celebrates Negro leagues baseball in Chicago while promoting the next generation of inner-city baseball players. Chicago native Michael Wilbon of ESPN and the Washington Post will moderate the forum.

Sights seen: Chicago native Norm Sonju (Schurz High School), founding president/GM of the Dallas Mavericks, ran a basketball clinic from 1963-96 at Camp-of-the-Woods in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. Chicago basketball stars Mark Aguirre and Mickey Johnson were among those who assisted. Last weekend Sonju was overwhelmed to see the dedication of the new Sonju Sports Complex in tiny Speculator, N.Y., joined by fellow Chicago-area native Jerry Colangelo and Randy Pfund (Wheaton College) among others. ... Chicagoans may take Wrigley Field for granted, but ESPN had a producer and videographer at Wrigley on Wednesday, shooting a piece for Sunday's "SportsCenter" that will be in the form of a "Postcard from Wrigley."

Overheard: Texas Rangers TV color analyst Tom Grieve recently told the "Mully&Hanley Show" on WSCR-AM 670 that he was surprised the Cubs signed Milton Bradley as a free agent.

"At the end of last season, when Milton was a free agent, it was difficult for me to see a National League team signing him, because he would not have gotten the at-bats he got for us last year without the DH," said Grieve, a former Rangers GM. "He was injured off and on all season long, and there were plenty of games where he was OK to DH but not OK to play in the field.

"I thought that was a little bit of a risk signing him to that size of a contract and that length of a contract. He appears at this point in his career to be injury-prone."

Local attractions: Chicago's 16-inch Softball Hall of Fame Inductee Park will be unveiled at 11 a.m. July 19 at the corner of Des Plaines Avenue and Harrison Street in Forest Park. The event will honor more than 300 of the greatest 16-inch softball players of all time, including Wally Filkins, Tony Reibel, Larry Kelly and Mary Pat McGuire. Restaurateur Rich Melman and media notables Mike North, Bob Sirott and George Bliss are slated to be on hand for the North Side vs. South Side celebrity game.

The last word: "I am a pretty avid Bears fan, up until the time they play the Eagles. That's when I have to switch my allegiance and go with Philadelphia." -- Chicagoan Sam McNabb, talking about the Nov. 22 Bears-Eagles game.